Grrr! I HATE this house! >.< I HATE living here SO very much. You know why…? BECAUSE OF ALL THE FUCKING ANIMALS!!! I SWEAR to bloody hell, I am going to go stark raving MAD if another animal even sets foot in this house again! I cannot believe… I mean… aaarrgh!!

Okay, my mom has cats. I mean, a LOT of cats. I think we’re up to like forty now, give or take a few. I seriously just lost count. But it didn’t used to always be this way. We started off with like… six… maybe seven years ago. And it’s just progressed since then. O.o My mom started taking in strays, and getting them spayed/neutered, and then adopting them out to loving homes. Now I’m all for that. I love animals to death, and I’ve always looked up to my mom because of the kindness she shows to all living things.

But there is such a thing as going too far. People, of course, found out what a nice lady my mom is, and started dumping animals on us. At first my mom didn’t mind, because at the time, finding homes for them was relatively easy. But the numbers started increasing steadily, with people laying guilt trips on us if we didn’t take in their unwanted pets. “Oh well, if you can’t take in Skippy, then we’ll have to have him put to sleep, or we’ll let him out onto the street…” And of course, my mom can never say no to something like that.

It just PISSES me off that people will sink that low. I mean… they can’t see how many animals we have already, right? They can’t think for even a moment that maybe it’s HARD to be able to care for this many animals?? My mom is a single parent, working a crappy paying job, she’s in debt up to her eyeballs, and caring for this many animals is EXPENSIVE! Not to mention the house always smells like fucking cat piss, and it drives me crazy!! I can’t even have friends over anymore, it’s that bad! O.o And now the only other empty room we had in the house (that used to be Blue’s room) that was supposed to be left as a guest room, we can’t even use anymore because we have a new cat in there, that isn’t even OURS!!!

Okay, so we have a few other people we know who do the cat-fostering thing. They’re all independent, non-profit groups, and they all kind of work together to help each other with adoptions and whatnot. So like, if someone calls looking for a specific type of cat and that house doesn’t have it, they’ll give the person the number of one of the other houses to see if they might have a possible adoption. Also, the groups help each other with food donations and whatnot. Now, my mom got all involved with these people thinking that it would help her get rid of some of these animals. Unfortunately it backfired on her, because I swear to gods that ever since we’ve come into contact with these people, we’ve only accumulated MORE CATS!

One of these ladies actually got caught about a month back by like, the SPCA or something, and she was given five days to get rid of all of her animals. So she started calling around, asking all of her friends and stuff if they could take in a few cats temporarily (it’s ALWAYS temporarily, right?). So now WE have some of her damn animals! Fucking three more beasts that we don’t need! And you just KNOW we are so going to get stuck with them forever!! It makes me NUTS that everywhere I look I practically step in cat! >.< I can’t stand it! And this was AFTER my mom finally started saying no to people trying to dump their animals on us. We do not have the SPACE OR MONEY to keep on taking in these damn animals! I wish this bloody group would die and go to hell, because instead of helping us, they’re only dumping us with more of THEIR cats!

Look, I love animals, I really do. But enough is enough! There are TOO many fucking cats in Toronto, and all because of irresponsible shitheads who don’t FIX their pets, and let them out to run around and breed! If you can’t be a responsible owner then you shouldn’t have a pet! I hate to sound cruel, but seriously, all of these stray cats just need to be put down. You CANNOT find homes for all of them. >.< I do NOT like the idea of euthanasia, but we need some serious population control here. :/ I mean, these groups have been thinking in the right area… of trapping feral cats and having them fixed, and then putting them back out, so at least not all of them can breed. But there are STILL always going to be more, that can’t be caught, or that someone will let out. No, there is no solution other than mass euthanasia.

Wow...Just...Wow. That's messed up...I know you don't have the time, but I hope you can take a more aggressive stance on sending these cats out - pester other groups, shelters, etc. to take them, and try not to let new cats get settled in. If it does get to be a health hazard in that house, you really just have to put your foot down - I hate the idea of putting a healthy animal to sleep, but it's better to put them to sleep than to have them live in dangerous conditions. ='(Still, both you and your mother obviously qualify for SAINTHOOD - if only more people were as responsible about the one or two cats they already own as you guys are about your whole herd, no one would be in such a mess!

It's a good idea, but as it stands, my mom just doesn't have the money. :/ Plus we'd have to be inspected for health/safety, and if an SPCA officer ever set foot in here, I DREAD what they would say. I mean, the place isn't in THAT bad of condition. Some of the other places have even more cats, and the conditions are much worse. But just.. blah... getting any kind of legal status involved usually leads to trouble that my mom just really can't afford right now.

*sighs* I wish there were a way I could help her out more. >.< I feel like a rotten daughter, not being able to help my mom out financially... *flicks her ears and hugs* What does your mom do? O.o

My suggestion is that if you REALLY have too many cats, maybe you should take a few to the SPCA. It's their job to find homes for pets, and if they don't... well... you know. But you can't feel bad for trying. They have a better chance through the SPCA than a newspaper ad or signs posted around the neighbourhood.

Which isn't a bad idea either. Maybe you should try giving away some of those cats. I've visited your place and that one gray cat with the serval markings is gorgeous. You have a lot of attractive cats there, and it would be a shame if you had to get rid of them, or have them put down.

The SPCA puts down nearly every new cat that gets brought in, because they're overloaded as well. Especially now with Kitten season starting. O.o This is the worst time of year for cats. >.< And just giving them away isn't as easy as most people think. Most of our guys are older, and this summer we'll get stuck with mom's no one wants, but the kittens will go like mad.

I've suggested to my mom to get an actual lisense to be an adoption organization... but she just doesn't have the time, or the money to really look into it. Plus, I can only tell her over and over again, but I can't make her do anything on her own. >.<

It's just very tiring living in this type of environment... this is one of the HUGE reasons why I want to move away.

Goddess, I've met my female counterpart. Someone so sick to fucking death of animals in the house, and even though you don't like to kill animals, having them always around you sucks even more... at least the pain will die away from having to euthanize, but cat piss and dog farts remain forever...

I can totally sympathize with you there. That sounds like a LOT of animals. The best thing would be to recruit the help of a no-kill shelter and have them take some of those animals away. I don't know however, if such an organization DOES exist where you are.

I hope that things turn out for the best. Your mom is a very kind-hearted individual. I wish her so called friends would not take advantage of her good nature.